Topics

Kevin Spacey, the actor most in the spotlight these days for his wicked performance in "House of Cards," will be singled out at the 2015 Olivier Awards ceremony April 12 at London's Royal Opera House. Spacey is set to receive an award for his "extraordinary contribution to the Old Vic and to British theatre." The actor, who steps down in the fall as artistic director of the Old Vic, has been praised for greatly enhacing that company since starting on the job in 2004. Next week, Spacey begins a six-run in David W Rintels' one-man play "Clarence Darrow" at the Old Vic. The annual Olivier Awards, named for famed actor Laurence Olivier and presented by...

Related "Britain" Articles

Kevin Spacey, the actor most in the spotlight these days for his wicked performance in "House of Cards," will be singled out at the 2015 Olivier Awards ceremony April 12 at London's Royal Opera House.
Spacey is set to receive an award for his...

It's hard not to admire their inventiveness, their refusal to be cowed by the stubborn and unyielding truth, their bravado and their nerve.
The dozens of charlatans, schemers and impostors on display in "Fakes, Lies and Forgeries," an...

Sometimes sequels can be a good thing — a very good thing.
That's the story with "Turks & Caicos" and "Salting the Battlefield," the second and third films in what PBS is calling "The Worricker Trilogy," a terrific...

The love of horses and racing is a long standing tradition on both sides of the pond, as the Atlantic Ocean is often called when England and her former colonies, our United States, are the subjects.
That love of horse racing, particularly among the...

A 100-year-old horse racing tale that unfolded on two continents, against a backdrop of world war and with a host of historically notable people, will come to life again this month at the Hays-Heighe House at Harford Community College, which also...

After some hand-wringing over British citizens who have chosen to fight with ISIS, Prime Minister David Cameron said he thinks one reason for the defection is that too many of the defectors have forgotten what it means to be British. As a...

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was hospitalized Saturday night after complaining of shortness of breath at the Star-Spangled Spectacular festivities at Fort McHenry.
The mayor delivered her remarks at the event, which included the vice...

If the War of 1812 is the forgotten war, then the landing of the British near Dundalk is perhaps a battle few ever knew even happened.
But to thousands of visitors to Fort Howard this weekend, the Battle of North Point was vivid — they felt the echoes of...

As the crystal ball on the 2016 Republican presidential nomination remains cloudy, two-time loser Mitt Romney appears willing at least to entertain the possibility of trying a third time.
In addition to occasional comments on matters he knows a lot...

U.S. airstrikes that have helped Iraqi and Kurdish forces recapture a strategic dam and halt, at least temporarily, the advance of ISIS terrorists on the Kurdish capital of Erbil are a welcome pushback against a relentless enemy that for a time seemed...

"The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry." -- Scottish poet Robert Burns, "To a Mouse" (1786)
CAIRNRYAN, Scotland -- For Americans whose knowledge of this beautiful land is limited to kilts, whiskey,...

If you had seen the announcement of the Idler Academy's Bad Grammar Awards in Britain, you could have predicted what would turn up: the less/fewer distinction, it's/its, homonym confusions, errant apostrophes. The same trivial items that crop up...

While tea party candidates underperformed against establishment Republican incumbents in recent U.S. primary elections, in Europe their conservative cousins have just scored some spectacular victories.
Commentators are calling elections for seats in...

In recent years, British cooking has gotten experimental and interesting, escaping from its role as the punch line of every culinary joke. Still, the chef who embraces traditional British foods outside of the United Kingdom is taking a risk.
The Brits...

Picky, Wordville's British honorary consul, recommends consideration of the peroration of A.J.P. Taylor's English History 1914-1945. "The rhythm is particularly effective, I think," he says. Let's have a look:
In the second World War...

Within months of the first shots of what was to become America's Revolutionary War, Maryland mustered troops to join the Continental Army and help newly appointed general George Washington drive the British from Boston. But the willingness to support...

A Maryland man is suing British Airways over an intended flight to Spain that ended up taking him to the West Indies.
In court documents, Edward Gamson said he booked a first-class flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Granada, Spain,...

First there was a brouhaha about the Oxford comma, prompted by a post at FiveThirtyEight in which I was quoted. (Click here for my post on the subject and its link to the original article.) Then screams of outrage on Twitter followed an